Uber sets valuation record of $17 billion in new funding

in Uncategorized by

Uber Technologies Inc. is creating a new category of hot startup: the $17 billion club.

The San Francisco-based transportation service, which lets people order private town cars and other vehicles from their smartphone, has raised $1.2 billion in a new financing led by Fidelity Investments. The funding positions the company at the front of a pack of Internet startups, at a pre-money valuation of about $17 billion, up from $3.5 billion in a financing last year.

Other investors in the new round include Wellington Management, Summit Partners, BlackRock Inc., venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and existing investors such as Google Ventures and Menlo Ventures. Uber Chief Executive Officer Travis Kalanick said he was keeping the round open to strategic partners that might pitch in an additional $200 million, though he declined to name possible partners.

Via Bloomberg.

Peter Schorsch is the President of Extensive Enterprises and is the publisher of some of Florida’s most influential new media websites, including SaintPetersBlog.com, FloridaPolitics.com, ContextFlorida.com, and Sunburn, the morning read of what’s hot in Florida politics. SaintPetersBlog has for three years running been ranked by the Washington Post as the best state-based blog in Florida. In addition to his publishing efforts, Peter is a political consultant to several of the state’s largest governmental affairs and public relations firms. Peter lives in St. Petersburg with his wife, Michelle, and their daughter, Ella.